AceShowbiz - The latest horror release from Universal and Blumhouse, The Mummy, is facing a difficult debut at the box office, continuing a troubling pattern for the studios’ horror properties. Despite the genre traditionally being a strong performer in theaters, recent releases have failed to capture audience interest as they once did, with viewers instead gravitating toward more ambitious films like Weapons and Sinners. This shift has left Universal and Blumhouse struggling to find hits amid several underperforming projects.

The studios’ challenges began with Wolf Man, directed by Leigh Whannell, who was brought in to replicate the success of his prior hit, The Invisible Man. However, Wolf Man failed to meet expectations, setting the stage for a series of disappointments. Now, the newest offering, directed by Lee Cronin, appears to be following a similar trajectory with box office results predicted to be underwhelming.

The origins of these recent films trace back to Universal’s ambitious but ultimately unsuccessful $170 million tentpole, The Mummy starring Tom Cruise, which aimed to launch an interconnected franchise inspired by the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After the franchise failed to gain traction, the studios pivoted away from shared universe storytelling. Instead, they focused on standalone horror movies with smaller budgets, a strategy that initially showed promise.

This pivot was exemplified by Whannell’s The Invisible Man, which grossed over $140 million worldwide against a modest $7 million budget in 2020, demonstrating that smaller-scale projects could succeed. However, following that success, several subsequent releases have struggled significantly.

Renfield, another recent Universal-Blumhouse collaboration, earned just $26 million worldwide despite a production budget of $65 million. Similarly, The Last Voyage of the Demeter brought in $21 million globally against a $45 million budget. Even Wolf Man managed only $35 million worldwide compared to its $25 million budget, underscoring the financial difficulties the studios continue to face with these horror titles.

These disappointing results mark a stark contrast to the initial optimism surrounding the standalone monster films. The strategy aimed to generate fresh narratives focusing on classic Universal Monsters without the pressure of interconnected storytelling, but the commercial returns suggest that audiences may not be as engaged as hoped.